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Comment Re:Where's the drug tests? (Score 1) 511

"So there is, as far as I can tell, no constitutional protection against requiring drug screening for welfare eligibility."

Consider this regarding the protection against unreasonable searches.

That article tells me two things:

  • Blanket drug screening may be considered unconstitutional (it has not reached the US Supreme Court)
  • It's not cost effective in saving money, or reducing the purchase of illegal drugs.

I still think the best solution is to just legalize the drugs in the first place. Then I don't care if they use welfare money to buy them, just like they might with cigarettes or alcohol. Then we don't have to worry about passing these laws to begin with.

"If it were up to me, welfare recipients would be required to do X hours of community service per week..."

Punishing welfare recipients with community services in addition to their workday (some hold two or more jobs), before showing probable cause is in violation of the Constitution, as well, and costs more than the return.

If someone reports an income to the IRS and is on welfare, then I would say they should not be doing community service. If they are on long term or short term disability, they should not be required to do anything either. If they are physically capable of working, and are just hanging out collecting a welfare check then they might as well make their neighborhood look nicer. Instead of welfare we can just call it a JOB. If they have kids to take care of, we can hire some licensed child care providers to help them with the kids while they do their work. In this case it has nothing to do with saving money, but in building peoples self respect and appreciation for their community. I would rather spend extra money and have these people do something with their lives, even if its pick up trash on the side of the road, than to sit at home playing WoW all day. And yes, I knew a family on welfare that had two parents capable of working that just played WoW all day. I'm not saying that they are the typical welfare recipient, but I do know that these people did not respect themselves.

Comment Re:Where's the drug tests? (Score 1) 511

Appeal to reason here, OK?

"If you're living off the government dime then ..."

Let's go with that. The military lives off the government dime. People who collect Social Security live off the government dime. Then there's congress persons, all of the bureaucrats, the FBI, CIA, NSA, all of the contractors sucking on the hind tit of government, the scientists with grants, academia in some cases, etc.

I used to do government contracting for the DoD and I definitely had to subject to drug testing. In fact, if I tested positive for anything that I didn't have a prescription for, I could be in huge trouble. In fact, I couldn't even travel to a non-NATO country without notifying the US Government. So FBI, CIA, and NSA are covered by drug screening (in theory). I can't attest to congress critter, having never been a critter myself.

Why test just welfare recipients? You do know they don't have much in the way of resources, right?

I know they don't have much in the way of resources. That's why I feel like it's especially egregious if they use their meager resources on illicit drugs. And as I said, if we didn't cause drug prices to be artificially high, I think we would be much better off. We should just legalize the drugs. As long as they are illegal, I don't see anything wrong with the drug testing.

Also, the Constitution prohibits favoring one group over another without due process. Studies show that we don't even have probable cause !

The constitution doesn't guarantee welfare money. So there is, as far as I can tell, no constitutional protection against requiring drug screening for welfare eligibility. Now, I don't believe they should be using those drug screens for law enforcement. There would be a constitutional issue there. But welfare is only granted via legislation and therefore its rules and eligibility are subject to legislation also. I don't think the constitution plays a part at all. Otherwise, how can the government discriminate against drug users in employment? What is the difference? Of course, IANAL and YMMV.

If it were up to me, welfare recipients would be required to do X hours of community service per week, based on the stipend they received. Unfortunately for me (or fortunately for those who disagree with me) I don't get to make these rules.

Comment Re:Where's the drug tests? (Score 1) 511

There are those who would test all welfare recipients for drug abuse on the grounds that poor folks are users. Never mind that the data shows most people on welfare work and stuff.

Those really looking to solve societies ills might do better to test the other end of the economic spectrum.

I would support drug testing welfare recipients because I feel like poor people have better things to be spending their money on. If you're living off the government dime then you shouldn't be using that money to support Colombian drug lords. Of course, if there weren't a war on drugs, perhaps these recreational drugs would be more reasonably priced. But I do feel like government welfare, in general, should be used for the necessities of life and not for recreational drugs. That's not to say that poor people don't deserve to participate in recreational activities, it's just a matter of priorities and sacrifice.

Comment Re:Australia? (Score 1) 120

I guess because the air is warmer it's less dense, making this kind of record "easier"?

The record was set about 100k SW of Melbourne (Actually the Australian Automotive Research Centre near Anglesea) in Victoria, in Winter.

The temps there in the last week were around 12 Deg C (55 F)

So much for 'less dense' air

I think he was talking cognitively less dense than from a US perspective. The people there are less dense. ;)

Comment Re:we are experiencing something similar (Score 1) 377

in northwestern Venezuela we are having the biggest drought in 60 years. We only have 57 days left of water, and that's including with limited use (1 and a half days of water per week!)

Our water comes by the way of reservoirs, and we depend heavily on rain. Can't remember the last time it rained and we are getting extremely worried

Ah I used to live on Margarita and the pipe that would supply water from the main land broke. We had no running water for over 2 weeks. They brought it over in tankers and it got incredibly expensive, very fast. It was not a pleasant time. Good luck to you. I miss Venezuela.

Comment Re: this is messed up.. but what's worse (Score 1) 928

For those not familiar with southwest: There is no assigned seating. People board in three groups, A (frequent flyers, people paying extra for early boarding), B and C (everyone else, numbered by check in order). Long story short, he bought the cheap tickets for his kids and wanted a free upgrade. He then threw a fit when he didn't get his way.

No you're wrong. A1-15 are the only spots you can pay extra for. A15-30 are for frequent flyers with certain status. If A15-30 do not fill up by the time you can check in at the gate, those spots come up for sale also. Anyone can get A31-60. It's the people who have nothing better to do but camp out at their phones and check in exactly 24 hours early that get spots A31-60. Believe me, I used to fly Southwest ALL the time (not by choice), and I hate their boarding policy.

The guy has two kids. The odds are good that, even if he wanted to, he was too busy to check in 24 hours in advance to get an A spot. I've checked in 23:30 hours in advance and gotten a B50 spot on busy routes with a lot of business travelers. Cut the poor guy some slack. It's not like he was trying to bring his business partner or coworker with him. They were two young kids that should not be waiting in line alone anyway. They should be sitting together and its much easier for them to do so if they board in the A group. I would be willing to bet that none of the passengers around him would have complained about him bringing the kids on earlier. Not at that age, anyway.

Comment Re:name and location tweeted... (Score 1) 928

My issue is when they want to say that they deserve to be treated equally and then complain when they aren't treated to a higher standard than men. Not all women do that. I would say most women do not do that. But a lot of the most vocal women I know expect ridiculous double standards between how men treat them versus how men treat each other. I don't believe double standards help anyone. Well, unless the double standard is in my benefit. Then it's the best standard one can apply. ;)

Comment Re:Works Fine For Me (Score 1) 928

I just hate having to set an alarm on my phone to remember to check into my flight at exactly 24 hours in advance so that I don't get a C boarding pass. I feel like a slave to the airline. When I fly with another airline, I pick my seat in advance and go. Why should someone who bought a ticket the day before get a better seat than me because he has nothing better to do but sit on his computer and hit refresh until he is able to check in for the flight?

Comment Re:Customer service? (Score 3, Funny) 928

I have a great solution for this. Everytime I see this happening, I take the bag down and pop it on the floor on a vacant seat. Eventually the bag makes it into the overhead lockers... somewhere. Enjoy your flight Mr. Type - A person, and then enjoy finding your damn bag because you left it out of your sight.

I think I've been on a plane with you sir, and I salute you wholeheartedly. One time a guy game from the back of the plane mid-flight (fasten seat belt light is on due to turbulence mind you), walks to the front row and starts looking for his bag. He can't find it and starts going through the overhead bins. He gets halfway through the plane on one side before a flight attendant came up and asked him what he was doing. He said someone stole his bag off the plane and went crazy. Flight attendant finally told him to sit down and to not look for his bag again or they would land the plane and the local police would help him find his bag when they hauled him off (this due to his belligerence). It all makes sense now!

Comment Re:Customer service? (Score 1) 928

flight attendants are great at finding a place for oversized luggage clogging up the overhead bins. if the overhead bin is full sit your carryon on your lap and when they ask why it isn't stowed they will fix it or stow your bag nearby...

Which may be fine and dandy if you're in the back row of the plane, or you have no connecting flight. But I can tell you right now that if my bag gets put 20 rows behind me, I am not going to go against the stream of people to try and grab it. That would be terribly rude. And I do not let other people walk the wrong way down the aisle to grab a bag when they are getting off either. I barely fit down the aisle, both height and width, so good luck getting around me.

That's not to say you can't get around that. A month ago I was traveling and gave up my window seat to a Chinese couple so they could sit together on a long transcontinental flight. I moved back 5 rows. I didn't bother with a carry on for this trip because it was a long one, but their carry on bags stayed in the back. Even though they barely spoke English, I helped them find their bags and pass them 5 rows forward so they didn't have to wait to get off the plane. But in general, if your bag is in a bin more than 1 or 2 rows behind your seat, you're screwed when you go to disembark.

Comment Re:Pft (Score 1) 962

Melodramatic? Have you ever listened to the audio chats of FPS co-op games when women are playing with men? I've heard guys who threatened to hunt down their female opponents so they could rape them and murder them just because they got their ass handed to them in a game. That is not juvenile "boys will be boys" behavior. That's somebody who might violently act out if the right circumstances (alcohol, drugs, peer pressure, stress, etc..) were to happen.

That's just gaming. You should read some of the stories about women who get involved in politics. Some people get really unhinged when you attack their personal values. Then you have some guys who go completely off the deep end when it is a woman doing it. Threats of murder come quickly and often. It is sadistic and it is ugly.

I still play some older COD games online with my brother. We're pretty good, and we make a great team. If we play on a Friday night there is a very high chance that someone will send us a private message with a death threat or other harassing language. I've heard it all. These people get pissed when they see two people on a 6 person team account for over half of winning score, assume we cheat, and go ballistic. I've got a friend who is much much better than both of us. When I play with him, that guy will get 70% of the points by himself. He gets a lot of hate.

Comment Re:Pft (Score 1) 962

I had a girl when I was in my twenties, whom I told that I wasn't interested in her that way call me repeatedly and just breath into the phone when I answered.. that was creepy. Being a guy didn't make me feel better about it either, I didn't know if she would try to cut my brake lines in my car, or burn my house down with me in it. It sucked.

All of the things mentioned in the article are truly lame, and should never happen to anyone , but I don't see them as sexist per se. It's more just about how shitty the world is.

Oh yeah. Had an ex girlfriend do that in college. She called 5-10 times per day for 3 months. Then for the next 3 months after that I would randomly find her waiting for me at places I never expected to see her (but she knew I went to). She would be waiting outside of my place at 2am when I would get home from a night out (she had no car, she would walk 1 hour and then wait for me outside for as long as it took). It was 6 months of wondering if she was going to try and kill me.

Comment Re:Huge Caveat! (Score 4, Informative) 98

That only happens if you enter your passcode then see the "Trust this Computer" prompt on a computer that has iTunes installed and you click "Trust" at the prompt. That creates a set of sync keys that the iOS device will then accept to access the various services.

The article made that very clear. But it's not clear to me where these keys are stored - is it on the disk, unprotected, or is it in your encrypted keychain? If the former, it seems to me that - unless you encrypt your computer's hard disk - this means anyone with unfettered access to your computer could get at these keys and thereby get at everything on your iOS device. If the latter, it would be much more difficult to do, even if they otherwise got access to your account.

The guy said he uses this to monitor his kids (which, depending on their age, might be a bit jerky in my opinion). However since he seems like an overzealous parent, I'm wondering if he has his kids' passwords etc., which would be necessary if these keys are in the keychain.

Unless Apple has changed the way this process works, the keys you need to get it to sync aren't in the keychain at all. ON a mac you can find them in ~/Library/MobileSync or something like that. On later versions of Windows it'll be in Users\\AppData\Roaming\Apple\MobileSync

You can quite literally copy and paste them from one machine to another in order to trick an iDevice into syncing with multiple iTunes libraries at once, though you can run into problems with that if you're not careful. However, if encryption is enabled on backups, then you must know the passphrase to actually access a device backup. It's been years since I've played around with this, so I may bit a bit off on the exact directory locations, but they are basically just files sitting around in your user folder.

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